Vietnamization

Vietnamization was the strategy of United States President Richard Nixon from 1968 to 1973 that saw a decrease in US troops fighting in the Vietnam War as more South Vietnamese troops were trained. The goal of the strategy was to send the soldiers home in small groups every week with dignity intact, as the South Vietnamese were trained to replace them.

History
The Vietnam War began in 1959 when North Vietnam sent troops to assist Viet Cong communist rebels in South Vietnam. Afraid to let their fellow capitalist country South Vientam fall, the United States started a coalition in 1964 and intervened in Vietnam. Troop numbers rose to a peak in 1968, but that year, the Tet Offensive turned public opinion against the war. With President Lyndon B. Johnson not seeking re-election, the US troops' morale sunk. President Richard Nixon, the new president, made a new plan called "Vietnamization": the reduction of Allied troops in South Vietnam while training more South Vietnamese troops to replace them. In August 1972, US troops left South Vietnam with only 50 advisors remaining in 1973. Other countries also decreased their numbers, with all countries aside from the United States leaving in 1972.